


getting there

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: nothing half so pleasant [9]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Post-Episode: s09e20 Ke Ala O Ka Pu, Spoilers for Episode: s09e20 Ke Ala O Ka Pu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 14:11:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18367622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Kono isn't exactly sure who it was she was expecting her ex-husband to date after their divorce, but she certainly was not expecting this.





	getting there

Kono was used to uncomfortable conversations. She’d been a cop for the better part of the past decade, after all. She’d had her fair share of them. But she couldn’t remember ever wanting to escape one quite as badly as she did the one she was currently partaking in.

“We wanted to tell you,” Britta was saying, glancing away every few seconds, looking more than a little awkward. Kono felt for her. She didn’t imagine it was a comfortable conversation from the other side, either.  “He wanted to tell you. I just figured, you know, we’re partners. It should be me.”

“Hm,” Kono murmured, nodding once. “You’re dating my ex-husband,” she repeated, still slightly shocked by the news. “That’s your, uh, that’s your news?”

“I’m not dating your ex-husband!” Britta rushed to clarify. “I’m having a dinner with your ex-husband. One meal, that’s all. But I don’t have to. I mean, I shouldn’t. I – it’s insane, the idea of it alone, isn’t it? I shouldn’t have even considered it, I’m sorry…”

“Britt, he’s my _ex_ -husband,” Kono pointed out. “That _ex_ in front of it? It’s of my own doing. You don’t have to worry about this hurting me.” She shrugged uncomfortably. “I mean, sure, it’s a little awkward. But, really, what isn’t in today’s world?” She cleared her throat. “Plus, you know each other, right? From college? Technically, that means you’ve known him even longer than I have. You’re not stepping on my toes, okay? I promise.”

Britta exhaled loudly. “So, it’s not weird?”

“No,” Kono assured her, offering a comforting smile. “Not weird at all.”

-o-o-o-o-

 

“It’s weird,” Kono blurted, making her way into Danny’s house.

The detective closed the door behind her, then turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow curiously. “I might be a good cop, but I’m not a mind-reader, Kono. I’m going to need more than that.”

“Adam and O’Connor are dating,” Kono explained in a rush. “Well, they’re not dating. They’ve gone on a single date. Or they’re going to. I didn’t really get the whole gist of it; I was too busy freaking out about it all internally.”

Danny glanced out the window awkwardly. “Oh. Isn’t this the sort of conversation you’d usually have with McGarrett?”

“It is, but his flight back from California doesn’t get here until the morning, and I genuinely think I might lose my mind if I wait that long to talk about this. So, please, Danny, can you be my fill-in, completely unauthorized therapist?” she pleaded hopefully.

“Well, with an offer like that, who can refuse?” Danny muttered drily, sinking onto the sofa across from her even as he spoke. “Why’s it weird?”

“Because it’s not weird,” Kono explained, shrugging slightly.

Danny eyed her for a moment, then blinked twice and cleared his throat. “Okay. You do realize that makes absolutely no sense, right?”

“I expected it to be weird,” she clarified. “I mean, Adam was my husband for three years. For a while there, I thought he was the love of my life. I’ve always thought that, as soon as I found out he was dating, I’d be overtaken with jealousy. And now, I find out he’s dating my partner, and I just – I feel nothing and everything at the same time. Does that make sense?”

“I think so, but this is honestly the strangest conversation you and I have ever had, so I’m having a pretty hard time keeping up,” Danny admitted. “So, you feel weird because you don’t feel weird?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Kono confirmed.

“Oh. Okay. Well, that’s called being divorced. It’s completely normal,” Danny assured her.

“Your ex-wife is your current girlfriend,” Kono reminded him. “I don’t think you really did divorce the right way. And, uh, you threatened to kill Stan at least half a dozen times the first year I knew you.”

“Okay, well, our split wasn’t normal or amicable,” Danny defended. “But you and Adam, being the way the two of you are, it’s normal for it not to feel weird. You’re friends. You want to see one another happy. You think Britta’s going to make him happy, of course you’re not going to try to sabotage that. It’s just the way you are when it comes to him.”

Kono drew in a deep breath. “You know what? Makes sense.” She stood from the sofa. “Thanks, Danny,” she called over her shoulder. “I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing.”

“I was staring at a blank television screen,” he informed her. He shrugged self-consciously when she turned to stare at him. “The kids are out of town with Rachel for the next few days. They’re visiting my ex-mother-in-law while she’s on her book tour in California, whatever. I just – I kind of forgot how to function without someone to look after.”

“I’m not going to let you be a mother hen,” Kono warned him as she dropped back onto the sofa next to him. “But letting you sit here by yourself would make me feel too bad. You’re a little pathetic, buddy.”

“You know what? I can work with pity,” Danny assured her, reaching for the remote. “You see the newest season of _Stranger Things_?”

“What exactly is _Stranger Things_?” she questioned confusedly.

Her friend turned to eye her incredulously. “You do _talk_ to my kid when you hang out with her, yeah?” He sighed when she simply continued to stare. “I’m about to change your life for the better, Kalakaua. You can thank me later.”

“I will,” she assured him amusedly, draping the blanket he tossed in her direction over her legs and then allowing herself to be entranced by the storyline portrayed in front of her.

-o-o-o-o-

 

“Hey,” Steve greeted when she showed up on his doorstep the following afternoon. He smiled and stepped aside, allowing her into his home without any questions. “How’re you doing?”

“Good,” she assured him. “I just stopped by to hear about how things went in California. I hear you got your guy.”

“We did,” Steve confirmed. “Closed my dad’s case, got justice for Duke’s partner. Felt good, honestly. We don’t usually win cases like that one.”

“Well, you closed this one,” she pointed out. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” he smiled, leading her into the kitchen. “Beer?”

“Always,” she replied, hopping onto a barstool and smiling gratefully when he slid a bottle across to her. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” He popped the cap off his own and took a sip. “So. How’re you doing?” He shrugged when she eyed him confusedly. “I might’ve talked to Danny before our flight took off.”

“You treat each other like brothers, fight like a married couple, and gossip like old women, huh?” Kono smirked. “Good to know.”

“It’s a very complicated relationship,” Steve defended, laughing when she simply rolled her eyes. He grew serious a few seconds later. “I’m serious, though. How’re you doing?”

“They both have what it takes to make each other happy,” Kono murmured, absentmindedly peeling the label of her beer away from the bottle. “I mean, he’s always wanted to be a dad. She has kids. In a lot of ways, it’s a match made in Heaven.” She smiled sadly. “It’s weird that I honestly believe what I’m saying, isn’t it? It’s odd that I really want my ex-husband to be happy?”

“A little, yeah,” Steve admitted. “But hey, you’ve always been a better person than me, so what the hell do I really know?”

“Do you think I’ll feel this way if they ever make it down the aisle?” she mused, still playing with the label in front of her.

Steve shrugged. “Who knows? But if you don’t, Danny and I’ll take you out the night before, get you even drunker than we get Adam.”

Kono smirked, shaking her head. “Thanks,” she laughed. “You’re a true friend, McGarrett.”

“I try,” he responded, returning her smirk and then tapping his bottle against hers. “And by the way, Kono?” he waited until she glanced up before continuing. “So are you.”

She couldn’t help but smile genuinely at that.

-o-o-o-o-

 

Adam showed up on her front door three days later, smiling sheepishly. “I should have been the one to tell you. I know that,” he began the second she stepped aside and let him inside.

“No,” she denied. “It was good that it was Britta. We’re partners. I need to be able to trust her.”

Adam nodded once. “And do you?” he questioned hesitantly. “Still trust her?”

“I’m not going to start a catfight with her over you, if that’s what you’re asking.” Kono sank onto the sofa, gesturing to the recliner next to her. She waited until he sat before continuing. “I love you, Adam,” she admitted. “And there is a part of me that will always love you. But I’m just – I’m not in love with you anymore. So, yeah. Yeah, I still trust her. I still trust both of you, because you’re my friends, and you’ve done nothing to jeopardize that. So, you can stop worrying. So can she. Because I’m not lying.”

“Okay,” Adam murmured after a few moments. “I believe you.” He stood from his seat, then cleared his throat. “Just so you know, Kono, I want you to be happy, too. Are you? Happy, I mean?”

“Yeah,” Kono replied honestly. “I’m getting there.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been planning this relationship since starting the series, but I wanted it to be as much a surprise as it was to Kono. Also, I was never quite sure when to write it in. The episode was wrapped up pretty nicely for me, so I figured if I was going to have such an intense AU storyline, this would be a good episode to write it in. Also, I'm sorry if this seems a little OOC to you, but I really think that, after all they've been through, Kono would want Adam to be happy, no matter who it's with.


End file.
